NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 3, 2025
Alex Ovechkin is within a hat trick of becoming the all-time goals leader while the Maple Leafs and Hurricanes clinch postseason berths. Details and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
NHL.COM: Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin netted his 892nd regular-season goal but his club fell 5-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Ovechkin is only three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes clinched a playoff berth for the seventh straight season as Jackson Blake scored twice and Seth Jarvis tallied his 30th goal of the season.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Washington sits first in the Eastern Conference with 105 points but only one win in their last five games (1-3-1). They remain a point back of the Winnipeg Jets, who sit atop the overall standings. Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson left this game with an upper-body injury. There was no postgame update on his condition.
The Hurricanes are on a roll, winning 12 of their last 14 games. They sit second in the Metropolitan Division with 96 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs got goals from John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies as they held off the Florida Panthers 3-2 to clinch a playoff spot. Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves as the Leafs sit first in the Atlantic Division with 96 points. Gustav Forsling and Sam Reinhart replied for the Panthers, who are four points behind the Leafs in third place in the division.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Toronto has the longest active postseason streak (nine seasons) but has only one playoff series win thus far. Leafs forward David Kampf left this game with an upper-body injury.
Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov (upper-body injury) and center Nico Sturm (undisclosed) missed this game and are listed as day-to-day. The Panthers are 0-2-1 in their last three contests.
An overtime goal by Vincent Trocheck lifted the New York Rangers over the Minnesota Wild 5-4. Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who are tied with the Montreal Canadiens with 79 points. Marcus Johansson had a goal and two assists for the Wild to regain the first Western Conference wild-card berth with 89 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Canadiens hold the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot with a game in hand over the Rangers. The Wild are tied in points with the St. Louis Blues but have 33 regulation wins to the Blues’ 30, putting the latter into the final Western wild card.
Shootout goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen gave the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Martin Necas tied the game for Colorado with 11 seconds remaining in the third period. The Avalanche hold third place in the Central Division with 96 points.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin left this game after the first period with a lower-body injury. There was no postgame update about his condition.
Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord made 24 saves to shut out the Vancouver Canucks 5-0. Jared McCann collected three assists and Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was another blow for the Canucks’ fading playoff hopes, leaving them eight points out of the final Western wild card.
IN OTHER NEWS…
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said there’s a chance sidelined forward Tyler Seguin and defenseman Miro Heiskanen could return to the lineup for the start of the postseason, which begins on April 19.
NEW JERSEY HOCKEY NOW: With Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler sidelined, Luke Hughes has stepped up as the Devils’ No. 1 defenseman.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: It was only a matter of time until Hughes moved into that role. The injuries to Hamilton and Siegenthaler opened that pathway earlier than expected. The 21-year-old blueliner has seized the opportunity with 41 points in 66 games, putting him six shy of last season’s career-best of 47.
EDMONTON JOURNAL: Edmonton sportswriter Bruce McCurdy passed away on Wednesday. He wrote for the now-defunct blog “Copper and Blue” and was co-writer of the Journal’s “The Cult of Hockey” and co-host of the eponymous podcast.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My sincere condolences to Bruce’s family, friends, and staff of the Journal, especially David Staples, his co-host on “The Cult of Hockey” podcast. I started following Bruce’s work during his “Copper and Blue” days, occasionally interacted with him, and cited his work on this site from time to time. He was a passionate follower of the Oilers and I will miss his insight.
Lyle, I believe the Habs hold the 2nd WC spot – Ottawa hasn’t dropped out – yet 🙂
Fixed, thanks
The big question tonight for the Oilers, is will they or won’t they start Rodrique in Net???????
I am so tired of this organization blocking any opportunity for other goalies to show what they can or cannot do.
Oilers management need not worry. When Skinner returns to health, Rodrique will be back in the minors.
Of course Rodrigue will be back in the minors Alan, unless there is an injury? He has some promise but the guy hasn’t shown he is a top level AHL goalie let alone and NHL one.
My guess is he starts tonight as they are in SJ and try and shelter the kid a little bit. The number one concern for the Oilers is getting healthy, they have 6 guys that could/should be in the starting lineup if healthy come playoff time. 5 are for sure, depends how you feel about Klingberg for #6.
So while they shouldn’t rush anyone back to try and catch LA, you want as many as you can at 100%, they are only 2 points back with 2 more games against them this year. Home ice matters, last year 7 of 8 home teams won in RD 1, year before was 6. Which almost always the case. Upsets happen almost every year for road teams, but 1 or 2. Unless there are no fans in the stands.
My guess is they do it, but would understand if Knoblach didn’t. No biggie either way IMO.